A Look Ahead

A little time to think about the past, present, and future.

Happy New Year! I can hardly believe it’s been a year since I posted my first story to ITS. Although there have been some pitfalls along the way and I did miss a few weeks, I have mostly succeeded in providing a new story every week. The good news is I’m not finished providing new stories here and you can all look forward to another year of weekly posts (excepting those unusual circumstances when something goes wrong, like I get a massive dose of writer’s block or my computer decides it needs a vacation because it is an unbelievable ten years old and has worked 10 hour days for most of that time, but I digress.). The bad news is you have to wait until next week for my first story for 2011.

It wouldn’t quite feel like a new year if I didn’t take the time to think about where I’ve been and consider where I am going. I like to think I learn things every year and get a little bit smarter and wiser along the way. On the top of my learned list is a little something about ambitious planning, like not to do it. I have a tendency to get carried away with whatever new story idea floats into my head. The problem with that is most of the time I have a new story idea floating in my head before I’ve finished the previous one. Hence, I have a few major story projects in various unfinished stages.

Over a year ago I started thinking and planning for a project called Jessica’s Toil and shortly after that came another project called The Retreat and then came something called Lyrics Are Lies and that was followed up by The Spanking Days of Summer and The Spanking Chronicles of Cedar Lake: For The General Assembly. Interestingly enough, only the last one managed to get finished last year. I won’t promise all of these projects will be finished in the new year, but I do intend to work on them systematically and I will keep you updated as to their progress.

Another learned lesson from 2010 is that while 1000 to 2000 word stories are fun and easy to write, they often fall short of their potential leaving both reader and writer unsatisfied. To that end, I’ve decided to adjust my current method of storytelling for ITS. My experiment was April’s Thanksgiving Shower which was told in four parts. Judging by the number of comments and emails the story received, I would have to say this was a rather successful experiment. In that light, I’m currently writing a new multi-part story called The Winter Storm. It will be posted weekly on Mondays starting January 10, 2011.

Late in 2010 I tried another experiment, writing essays or articles exploring various aspects of the corporal punishment lifestyle. These had some mixed reviews, clearly appealing to some of my readers and clearly boring others. The first rule of writing is that you can’t please everyone and if you try, you end up pleasing no one at all. Keeping that in mind, I’ve decided to post the remainder of those throughout the new year as filler posts between stories. Which means what I have left of the articles might well last me into 2012.

All things considered, I’ve been very happy with Imagine the Stories and have found sharing my writing on it to be a very positive experience. I have enjoyed watching the readership grow and have truly appreciated the growth in commentors sharing their thoughts and encouragement with me. It is my hope to see those things continue in 2011 and I will do my best to provide material worthy of being read and talked about.

Happy New Year!